Album Review - Kenny Mason: 6
SOFT 5/10
Kenny Mason has worked with artists like JID, Sheck Wes and IDK. (Photo courtesy of Complex)
Many may think of Kenny Mason as JID’s personal sidekick, as he’s featured on bangers like “Just In Time”, “Dance Now” and “Stick”, but his solo work has proven that he should not be restricted to the label of solely being a “hip-hop artist”. With 6, Mason attempts to combine rock and hip-hop like Jean Dawson, be as blunt as Baby Keem and fill up the room with persistent bars like JID, and that’s the problem. So much of 6 is spent bouncing between styles that established artists have coined as their own, or at least have created a distinct enough sound to be consistently associated with, but Mason still seems to be trying to find his personal lane.
“DARKSIDE” is a hauntingly muddy instrumental that kicks off the album with distorted bass and punchy synths, but Mason’s muted vocals and nonchalant tone absolutely sucks the air out of the room for what could have been an emphatic introduction. The track finds Mason explaining how the environment that he grew up in is totally different from normal reality to the extent that it becomes a surreal way of living. Lines like “Triple reply text from the dark side speakin' difficult dialect” showcase this distinction, but the beat does most of the emotional groundwork with little assistance from Mason’s inflection. “RICH” exemplifies the vocal versatility that most have come to expect with Mason’s work, but the classic rags-to-riches anthem strikes a boring chord with its redundant chorus and rudimentary braggadocious behavior.
The energy is taken up a notch on “I GOT” where the hazy and pitched down hook preps listeners for a wordy verse. Mason explains how he grew up within a life of crime that has now led him to become perpetually paranoid and find ways to cope: “Hiding my head in the Hennеssy/Hidin' my head, they might try me like Kennedy, can't/Get off my pivot on pivotal days.” Mason’s animated presentation is carried over to “DRACULA”; a track that is a slightly more upbeat and features heightened wordplay and a stricter song structure.
Mason makes the unique choice of basically sampling himself in the style of typical Memphis hip-hop that has become so popular to reference in modern rap on “STACK IT UP”. The main recipient of these references happens to be his guest star on the track, Project Pat, and it’s refreshing to hear an original verse from the Tennessee legend. Although Mason outshines Pat with his raw aggression, Pat doesn’t merely phone it in, as we get to hear his classic method of enunciation in order to fit it into his preferred rhyme scheme; “I'ma stay on this moolah/This ice got me cool-ah/Drippin' like a pool-ah.” “Avatar” also brings the heat with its diverse production that heavily interpolates what has now come to be known as “rage”, in a similar vein to Destroy Lonely and Ken Carson. It’s unfortunate that the second to last track on the LP is our first glance at what feels like Mason’s fully fleshed out sound with its catchy hook and restless verses, but it’s better late than never.
On the other hand though, cuts like “SIDE II SIDE” and “Back Home” feel unfinished and borderline lazy. The former features Mason crooning over what sounds like a bootleg Aphex Twin instrumental, while the latter presents itself as Mason’s continued undeveloped fascination of foraying into punk-rock-rap. “Back Home” feels like an undeserved gut punch as the conclusion to the album with its stark stylistic differences to the rest of the project, but maybe it serves as an indication of where Mason wants to further hone his craft. On 6 though, it is purely experimental without the normal excitement that usually is inherent to sonic trial and error.
Mason continues to discover pockets of his undefined style that he is clearly adept at, but 6 does not wield enough of these moments to justify how short the album is. At just 9 tracks, one would hope that Mason could deliver a project with consistent focus, but Mason seems too far gone in terms of trying out new elements without true cohesion. The Atlanta artist still has a lot of time to grow, but it’s unclear what the creative direction will be based on this latest output.